The research, conducted by Ali Rowhani-Rahbar and Vivian
Lyons, epidemiologists at the University of Washington, along with public
health experts at Northeastern and Harvard, finds that 61 percent of all gun
owners reported receiving formal firearms training. The researchers say this a
statistically insignificant increase over the 56 to 58 percent of gun owners
who reported receiving training in 1994, the last time a comparable survey was
conducted, reported The Trace.

Of gun owners who said they own a handgun for the sole
purpose of protection, 57 percent said they had received formal training. Only
14 percent of those who live with a gun owner, but who do not own guns
themselves, have received safety training, which the authors say is a troubling
finding considering how often accidental shootings or suicides are committed
with guns that belong to a parent, spouse, or roommate.

“Despite the presence of training programs all around the
country, it looks like they are not reaching a larger fraction of gun owners
than they were 20 years ago,” said Rowhani-Rahbar. “I was surprised to see
that.”

The researchers based their analysis on data from the National
Firearms Survey, considered the first nationally representative
investigation in more than two decades into how and why Americans keep weapons.
The survey was conducted online in 2015 on behalf of a research team from
Harvard and Northeastern universities by GfK, a market-research company. It
surveyed nearly 4,000 Americans and oversampled for veterans and gun owners.

About Matt

An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.